Weekly Grades for the Administration on Poverty: C
This was a slow week, because Congress was on vacation for Memorial Day, and the administration focused a great deal of attention on the Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor. A few things did happen that will have some impact on homelessness and poverty, which lead me to give the Government a "C" for this week.
There was a new focus on Open Government by the administration with more work on making the federal bureaucracy more transparent. As always, the more information on the workings of government the better for everyone.
There was $252 million distributed to Indian, Native and Alaskan tribes through HUD for housing and development issues through the stimulus. This is one of the poorest populations in the United States, and they deserve about 10 times that amount.
A bill to reform the Neighborhood Stabilization funding was introduced right before Congress went on vacation. This would allow the federal government to recoup any of the profits realized by the government after disposition of these funds.
One thing that slipped by me two weeks ago with the signing of the renters in foreclosure bill by President Obama was that those rules were effective immediately. So, any renter living in a building in which their landlord goes into foreclosure has some ability to continue with their lease after the sale of the property. This is huge and is right now the law of the land.
There were three hearings scheduled for the this week by the Congress in which the administration staff will have to testify. These include a hearing on the status of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Wednesday. There is a hearing on the same day to lay out the plans by the Veterans Administration and other federal offices to assure that there is an end to homelessness among veterans. Finally, on Thursday there is a hearing on the Housing Choice Voucher Program and the reform attempts. Set your TiVo to tape C-Span in the evening over the next few days.
Not much else that had any impact on poverty.
Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.
No comments:
Post a Comment